Persona 3: New Game Plus
by Infin1teZer0
Summary: What if Minato Arisato returned to the beginning of his adventure after sealing Nyx, and brought all of his knowledge and powers with him? How drastically would his quest change? What if someone came with him?
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Hello, everyone. Before we even begin, let us get the fact that this is my first ever fanfiction out of the way. What that entails... Well, you've been warned, so my conscious is clear. With that in mind, I would _gladly _accept any criticisms you can offer. Lord knows I need it. For your entertainment, I've drafted up this little first chapter/pilot of a story that's been running in my head for a while. Off we go~

* * *

"_Time never waits. It delivers all equally to the same end. You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be… You will be given one year. Go fourth without falter, with your heart as your guide…"_

Where have I heard that before…? A more relevant question: Where am I?

I'm not where I remember, that's for sure.

Looking around, I soon figure out that I'm on board a train. It was a clean train, and it was vacant minus me and a few other strangers. It is a rare delicacy in a place like Japan, where everyone is usually packed like sardines. I am in Japan… right? The advertisements plastered on the train's interior walls seem be in Japanese, so that eliminated that uncertainty.

Hold that thought. If I'm in Japan, then I'm alive. If I'm alive, then I'm not holding off Erebus as the Great Seal. If I'm not holding off Erebus as the Great Seal, then Erebus can reach Nyx. If Erebus can reach Nyx, then The Fall would take place shortly after. If The Fall takes place, then we're all quite thoroughly screwed.

That's my logic, anyway. It's quite uplifting, no?

Moving on, I hereby guess that this train is heading towards Iwatodai.

"_Please hold on; this train is stopping at Iwatodai station."_

Called it.

I adjusted the strap on my satchel and prepared to disembark. Once I get off, I fully intend to get my bearings straight. There's no time like the present to solve whatever oddity has decided to come up.

I arrived at the station without any problems. Plus one cookie for me I guess. First thing's first: I dug into my pocket and retrieved my trusty cell phone. Flipping it open (Quite dramatically might I add. I can't help it sometimes), I immediately checked the date and time. April 7th, 2009, 11:58 A.M. The Dark Hour will occur in two minutes if my phone's right. Speaking of accuracy, April 7th, 2009? Maybe I shouldn't trust my phone; it's over a year late at least. Approaching the nearest array of TV monitors, I quickly found the local news network. They'll have the proper date for sure.

April 7th, 2009, the bottom feed read.

What.

Okay, new theory time. Trusting that the news broadcast is correct, I'm either in the process of being mind-screwed, or I time-traveled. Hey, it's the first two things that came into my head. Don't judge. I wonder if there's a police box nearby… Either that or a DeLorean is parked in the immediate vicinity.

I'll have to make shameless references later, because the clock just struck twelve in Japan. If you don't know what that means, you're about to be enlightened. The sky turned from the black of night to a sickly green, blood started spewing out of seemingly random locations, leaving messy puddles of the stuff on any surface it could find, and the bustling crowd of Tatsumi Port Island was transfigured into haunting black coffins. It's the Dark Hour, and I've come all too familiar with it.

If the Dark Hour still exists, then there is no Great Seal to keep Nyx and Erebus separate. There's another piece of evidence to my time-travel theory. Not so far-fetched now, huh?

Despite my apparent blast to the past, I still had all my regular Personas with me: Orpheus Telos, Thanatos, and Messiah. The gang's all here it seems. Unfortunately for me, I didn't have my Evoker to summon them with, so all my game-breaking monsters were swimming uselessly in my subconscious. Oh well, if I _did_ have them, there'd be nothing to worry about in the event that I went back in time; my Personas were all ridiculously unfair in their own right, and I could steamroll anything that dared come my way.

Before I kick gratuitous amounts of ass, however, I still needed to either confirm or deny my time-travel hypothesis. I knew a quick and easy way to test this…

To the dormitory!

Without getting much more lost in thought, I high-tailed it to the Iwatodai dorm. It was the place I lived at during my time here. It brings up the fondest of my memories, but I can mull over my nostalgia later. There is science to be done!

Now then, despite my friends being there (I'll figure out how they're doing in a few minutes, won't I?), there's another thing I remember quite clearly. It was an act that I had partaken in that has changed my life forever. If I have to go through it again, my suspicions will be confirmed. Taking a deep breath, I firmly grasped the door handle and walked into the Iwatodai dorm, my home.

I closed the door behind me.

Silence. I took my headphones off so I could hear better.

Silence.

Wait for it…

"There you are!" I heard a voice. Bingo! "I've been waiting a long time for you~"

Standing behind the receptionist's desk was a young ghastly looking boy in stripped pajamas. He looked no older that ten, but appearances can be deceiving when you're looking at the physical representation of death itself, at least a piece of it. That's Pharos alright.

Time-travel is a go. He wouldn't be here talking to me otherwise.

"Now," Pharos continued, giving me no time to reply. "If you wish to proceed, please sign your name there," he gestured towards the slip of paper that mysteriously appeared on the desk. I already knew what it was.

"It's a contract," Pharos provided exposition anyway for your convenience. "All it says is that you'll take responsibility of your actions. You know… the usual stuff."

I didn't reply to him. I didn't need to. I walked over to the contract looking as bored as ever. To those who are curious, it read as follows in fancy lettering:

_I, upon signing this contract, hereby solemnly swear to take full responsibility for my actions, and shall reap the consequences of my decisions, regardless of what they may be._

_-__Minato Arisato_

I signed the contract without another thought. Here I go again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: **Wow. That last chapter certainly went better than expected. I don't have much to say other than thank you to the four-five people that gave my little pilot a read. This next chapter is a smidge longer, but I need a quick opinion on something. I see two options about uploading these chapters: I can post shorter (~1,000-1,500 words) chapters at a higher frequency (bi-daily I'm guessing), _or _I can post longer chapters at a lower frequency. I expect chapter three to be longer regardless though, since my estimated stopping point is a bit further away in that one. Anyway, please, enjoy the read.

* * *

Okay! Contract done. I've definitely gone back in time. The question now, however, is how do I go about dealing with this? It's only been a few hours in this new reality, but I still need some sort of game plan. If things play out the way I remember them, then I'll just mimic my original timeline as much as possible. That's easy enough, right? The only problem is that my memory is far from perfect. I can only remember a few dates specifically if I think about it, but even then I'm mostly guessing. I'm going to have to wait until more happens; having an interior monologue in the dorm's lobby isn't going to solve anything.

Speaking of which, more stuff just happened. I didn't have to wait too long after all.

"Who's there?!" I heard a woman call out. Pharos had already vanished, so I turned my attention to the brunette girl that was a few sudden movements away from pulling a gun on me. That, ladies and gentlemen, was Yukari Takeba.

If I were to describe Yukari with one word, I'd say… anime cliché number 750. Oh wait, that's three words and a number. I'd call her a _tsundere_, hands-down. That basically sums up her personality in one easy-to-say word. You'll figure out why soon enough… For her current state of mind, I'd say she looks quite frazzled. She is staring at me like I'm some ghost (she's terrified of ghosts, by the way), and I can hear her frantic breathing from across the lobby. I instinctively freeze in place. If I wasn't going through this a second time, I'd be a lot more scared. Originally, I assumed that gun strapped to Yukari's thigh had bullets in it. Now, I know better. All that gun does this time around is allow me to partake in a guilty pleasure with absolute impunity.

Yukari should probably make up her mind at this point; she's had her hand hovering over her gun cowgirl style for quite some time, and I knew what was coming next anyway. I counted down in my head…

Three…

Two…

One…

Yukari groped for her weapon, looking like she has decided to shoot me where I stand. Or turn the gun on herself, given its true purpose… Before she could carry out her objective, however, another voice made itself known.

"Takeba, wait!" Another voice rang out. Unlike Yukari's panicked cry, however, this one was even and under control. It was the intimidating, stern, and fair voice of authority. Yukari, startled, whipped around to see who had stopped her. Another girl, this one a year older than Yukari, had joined the assembly. Her red hair curled elegantly down her slender neck and shoulders, which was complemented by the red bow she wore with her uniform. Don't get me wrong, both girls are extremely attractive, but I have a habit of not choosing favorites.

Oh, and the Dark Hour just ended. I almost completely forgot about it, since the dorm maintains its electricity regardless of the time or if there's a green filter on everything or not. My MP3 player sprung back to life, its music filling the awkward silence.

_Buurrnn myyy Dreeaad~!_

Yep, that is officially my theme song. So catchy! I turned it off though; it's considered rude to listen to music while conversing.

"I didn't think you'd arrive so late," the redhead broke the silence. Excuse me, miss, have you seen my hair? It's blue, _naturally, _and styled in a perfect Emo Swoop. That's like, anime cliché number one! I'm obviously an anime protagonist if you've ever seen one, so it would be expected if I show up late. _Fashionably _late.

"My name is Mitsuru Kirijo," the senior introduced herself. It's good to see you again, Mitsuru, but this is probably the first time you've seen me, so I'll keep the fact that I know you and your entire life story a secret. Y'know, time travel; don't reveal information that you could not have possibly known without coming from the future. It's referred to as "guilty knowledge", and it usually mucks up things.

"Who's he…?" Yukari asked, still eyeing me funny. Do I really look that scary? Then again, I do have Thanatos equipped, and having the Greek personification of death charging you down is probably one of the most terrifying things I can imagine.

"He's a transfer student," Mitsuru answered. Ah, anime cliché number 128,512: the Mysterious Transfer Student. It never gets old. "It was a last-minute decision to assign him here. He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boys' dorm." Hah, nope. Believe me: I ain't going anywhere. Besides, this dorm is coed anyway. I'd call Mitsuru out on her bullshit, but I held my tongue for now. It's best not to speak unless I have to.

"…Is it okay for him to be here?" Yukari half-whispered. They shouldn't know that I have Personas yet, or that I know what this dorm is really here for, so I can understand where Yukari's coming from.

"I guess we'll see," Mitsuru smirked. Oh, we'll see alright. You girls have no idea what the next year has for you, but I do.

…That could be taken the wrong way. Oh well.

Mitsuru turned to me and motioned to Yukari, "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you." I already knew that, but I appreciate the introduction anyway.

"…Hey," Yukari introduced herself, giving me a short bow. She still looks so uncertain about me. I swear, I'm not some rapist breaking into the dorm. Don't be so shy.

"Nice to meet you," I smiled and bowed slightly lower than Yukari did in return. Being nice might ease some of the tension in the air between us.

"Uh, y-yeah…"

I guess not. I'll have to smooth-talk her some more later.

"Nice to meet you, too," she added. That was a little better, but I could tell she was still wary of me.

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest," Misturu instructed me. I was strangely compelled to obey. Mitsuru has a knack for that; she probably gets it from her father.

Oh man, I wonder if I can change that this time around…

"Your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there." I already knew that, but thanks anyway, Mitsuru. Wait a minute; if my things were already here, then they were expecting me. Yukari should have known I was coming, so why did she contemplate shooting me? It's strange how this thought only came up in hindsight.

"Oh… I'll show you the way. Follow me," Yukari chimed in. At least she's smiling now. I agreed silently and followed the brunette up the spiral staircase. The second floor had another "lounge" area with a sofa and some vending machines. I've always wondered why they're up here instead of in the main lobby. Oh well, it's Japan; we have a massive space issue here. If you can't build outward, build up.

We made our way to the end of the hallway. The final door to the right is my room, nostalgia abound. "This is it…" Yukari pointed out. Again, I already knew where my room was, but there's no way I'd be able to know without coming from the future, so I let her talk. "Pretty easy to remember, huh? …Since it's right at the end of the hall," Yukari smiled again. It's good to smile. "Oh yeah, make sure to never lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it…" Knowing Mitsuru, that sounds about right. I haven't lost it yet, and I don't want to figure out what happens if I do.

"So, any questions?"

Well, I could ask questions that I already know the answer to, but that would be a waste of time. "Nope. I'm good," I replied, and if I remember correctly, Yukari says…

"Um… Can I ask you something?"

"Go for it."

"On your way here from the station," ah, here it is, "was everything okay?"

"Hmm…" I put a finger on my chin in a thinking pose to seal the deal. "Yup. Everything was peachy." That was a pretty big lie, but I'm the uncontested king of poker faces. I take quite a large amount of pride in my ability to make people believe total BS.

"N-never mind," Yukari nodded, seeming satisfied, "it seems like you're alright."

Haha, nope. Anything but.

"Well," Yukari wanted to wrap things up, "I better get going." I had no objections. Yukari left me to my own devices after we exchanged goodbyes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **Hello again. I haven't made an update in a while, I know, but this chapter is significantly longer to compensate. Also, before anyone even mentions it, I do realize that Minato is currently overpowered to quite an extreme, and I do have things in place to deal with it in the immediate future. Excessive strength at certain points could change the timeline quite a bit, if you think about it. Also, I got more review. Why was I not notified of this?! Oh well, I blame the system. For now though, the chapter...

* * *

Ah! My room! This brings back good times indeed.

Everything is as I remember it, and all of my stuff is already here. That's very convenient; thanks Mitsuru! Now then, there's not too much I can do at the moment, so I decided it would be best to hit the hay.

The next morning, I was preparing for my first day of school when I heard a knock on the door. "It's Yukari. Are you awake?" Why, yes I am awake. I go to open the door. "Good morning," she said with a smile, "Did you sleep okay?" She looked down at her feet, then back at me, "Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so… Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah. I'm ready," I answered once she finished talking. She escorted me to school last time around, so why not this time? Besides, this will lead to some quite humorous antics later on with another friend of mine…

Yukari bowed again to me, "Okay. Then, let's go."

The train ride to school wasn't particularly interesting. After doing it literally hundreds of times, there's not many new sights to take in. The school itself, however, never lost its luster.

Gekkoukan High was quite a lavish building. It was built by the Kirijo group, after all. In hindsight, I'm surprised why they decided to turn this building into a high school, given its original purpose as a shadow laboratory. I'll have to keep that in mind, since this place turns into Tartarus every midnight. You'll see what I mean about that later.

I followed Yukari to the main entrance, performing our usual routine at the shoe lockers. "You're okay from here, right?" Yukari turned to ask me. I didn't respond. "You should go see your homeroom teacher first," she continued, "The Faculty Office is right there to the left." Again, I already knew that, but thanks anyway. You get a cookie for effort, Yukari. "…And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?" Actually…

"Which class are you in?" I prodded semi-flirtatiously. I don't think she picked up on it; if she did, she would've slapped me by now.

"Me?" Yukari asked for confirmation. Yes, you. I wasn't talking to the shoe lockers. "I dunno… I haven't looked at the classroom assignments yet." Oh well, you don't know it yet, but we're in the same class. I'm psychic like that. I'm also from the future. Besides, I don't think anyone expected us to be in different classes anyway.

Yukari turned to leave, but then span back around. "About last night…" Oh man, these words are going to be the bane of you, Yukari. "Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?" Taken out of context, this sounds incredibly suggestive, and it only gets worse later on.

We exchanged goodbyes after that, and she left me alone in the school lobby. Originally, I went to the faculty office to find my homeroom class, but I don't think that'll be necessary this time. I already know where everything is; my homeroom is 2-F, taught by Ms. Toriumi. She's going to come up later, so we should probably pay attention. Granted, the fate of a lot of people, nay, the whole world rests on my shoulders and silver tongue.

Since I've decided to skip the Faculty Office, I should probably make my way to the auditorium. We're having an assembly today, if I remember correctly. Boring! The auditorium was nothing special; look one up on Google Images, and you're there.

I took my seat without talking to anyone. I'm going to end up talking a lot more as the days go on. However, the school principal was about to begin his usual welcoming speech. "As you begin the new school year," he ranted. Here we go. "I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a blah blah blah, blah blah blah blah…"

Oh, God, the agony! He honestly expects already sleep-deprived teenagers to sit through this?! Even _he _looks like he's gonna keel over and fall asleep. In fact, I can feel myself slowly fading…

Someone prods the back of my chair, "Psst… Hey…"

I bolt awake. I wasn't expecting that.

"You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?" he said. Really dude? Is now the time to talk about girls you _know _you don't have a chance with? I mean, I've gotten pretty close to Yukari the first time around, but even then I had to work for it. He was about to ask me if Yukari had a boyfriend, but I cut him off. I decided to be vague and at least give him a glimmer of hope.

"I don't know if she has a boyfriend. I've only known her since yesterday."

"I see," he seemed satisfied. We stopped talking before a teacher overheard us, and I don't think I ever speak to that particular student again.

Besides my brief conversation with a completely unimportant student, the assembly was lacking in terms of significance. However, homeroom is where the fun truly begins…

I took my seat towards the center of the class as another student walked up to me. "Sup dude?!" he greeted. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you Mr. Junpei Iori. He has a penchant for making a complete buffoon out of himself, and he can be a bit annoying at times, but he does get more tolerable as the year goes on. I think we've all gotten a good beating from the trusty Stick-o'-Maturity together. I'll have to be careful not to undo that.

"How's it goin', my man?" I reply back to Junpei, mirroring his toothy grin.

"My name's Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya!" he beamed. Again, I already knew that, but this man's energy is infectious.

"Minato Arisato," I returned his greeting, "the pleasure's all mine." Also, I forgot to do this earlier, but I swapped my currently equipped Persona, Thanatos, to Surt. You see, the Persona I have at the front of my mind affects my personality to a degree. Thanatos is a Persona of the Death Arcana, so having him equipped will make me come off as more frightening and standoffish to other people. In Junpei's case, his Arcana is the Magician. Surt is a Magician as well, so having him equipped will give us matching Arcana. In short, matching Arcana equals happy times.

"I transferred here when I was in 8th grade," Junpei continued flapping his gums. You get used to it after a while. "I know how tough it is bein' the new kid, so I just wanted to say 'hey.' …See what a nice guy I am?"

"Besides your ego stroking," I joked, "you're alright, Junpei-san."

Fortunately, he had a sense of humor and took my stab quite well. Besides, Junpei's distracted easily. "Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" he exclaimed as Yukari walked into the classroom.

She sighed at his enthusiasm, "At it again huh?" She was rarely amused by Junpei's motor-mouth, as it should be. "I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen." So harsh, Yukari. However, Junpei is immune to insults.

"What?" Junpei retorted, mocking offense, "but I was just bein' friendly!"

"In his defense, he was just being friendly," I commented in a deadpan tone. I thought it would be funny.

"If you say so," Yukari said, rolling her eyes at both of us. "Anyway, it looks like we're in the same homeroom…"

We're in the same homeroom, Yukari? Ya don't say. I wanted to say that, but it came out a bit nicer, "Meh, it must be a coincidence."

"Funny, huh?"

"It's hysterical!"

"Hey, guys!" Junpei butted back in, "I'm in this conversation too, y'know!" "By the way…" he suddenly got a snicker on his face, and I need to make the decision if I want to mess with Yukari or not. "I heard you two came together to school this morning. C'mon, gimme the dirt!"

Whatever, all in! "Well, you see, it was about midnight last night and-"

"Wh-What are you talking about?!" Yukari cut me off looking quite flustered. Her reaction was priceless. "We live in the same dorm. There's nothing going on, okay?" She pulled herself back together quickly, to give her some credit. We all know Yukari's denial was a steaming pile of bullshit though. "Why are people even talking about it?! Now you have me worried…" This school sure loves its rumors.

Yukari came a little closer to me and gave me a hushed, "Hey." Oh boy… "You didn't say anything to anyone about… you know what, did you? Seriously, don't say _anything _about last night, okay?"

"Yukari-san," I sighed, slapping the palm of my hand against my forehead, "you're really not helping yourself here." To emphasize, I poked a thumb at Junpei, who overheard the whole thing. He looked flabbergasted, to say the least.

"L-last night?" he stammered, still recoiling from the shock. Yukari continued to deny any connection to me as Junpei and I barely managed to contain our laughter. "I gotta go," Yukari shook her head in defeat. "I've got something to take care of for the archery team, but you better not start any rumors!"

"We don't need to start rumors that are already in place, Yuka-tan!" Junpei said. Yukari simply walked off after that. He turned to me and sighed, "She's so paranoid…"

"To be fair, that was kind of mean," I said. The Magician Arcana tends to make me more… silly? Junpei is my basis for the Magician Arcana, so having a Magician equipped would make me more like Junpei, logically.

"But hey!" he started smiling again. "It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular. You da man!"

"Damn straight." I gave him a high-five.

After school, I decided to walk home with Junpei. We were part of the after-school mob that surged out of the school at the day's end. I looked around, and I see all these people I have to socialize with later! I can pick out several, but I'll spare you the detail until they become more relevant. Besides that gratuitous observation, the walk home was uneventful.

I returned to the dorm as the sun went down. "Welcome back," Mitsuru greeted me with a small smile. She's of the Empress Arcana, so I switched to my Empress Persona, Alilat, to compensate.

"Thank you, Mitsuru-senpai," I went for the polite approach since she liked that.

"You really shouldn't be outside on your own at night. It's too dangerous." Mothering as always. Typical Mitsuru.

"I don't think you'll have to worry about me," I reassured, smiling. "Thank you for the warning regardless." I am more than capable of taking care of myself. You see, most people only have one Persona. I have somewhere around _200 _Personas. Even though Misturu has the most combat experience by far, I could still wipe the deck with her because I have 200 times the firepower. I wouldn't dare say that to Mitsuru's face though; her executions would make God himself kneel in submission. Protip: _never _be in the same hot spring as Mitsuru if you're a boy. Bad things happen if you do.

"Anyway," Mitsuru snapped me out of that particularly terrifying flashback. Wait, would it be a flashback if it happened in the future…? I suddenly have a headache. "You must be tired. You should get a good night's rest."

"I can agree to that," I said, taking my leave. I made amends with Yukari in the kitchen before I went to my room. She's of the Lovers Arcana, by the way, so I made sure to switch to Cybele (a Lovers Persona) before I tried apologizing for my antics.

I returned to my room and got ready for bed, when I noticed a small surveillance camera trained on me. I figured that my friends were spying on me; they knew I was active in the dark hour, but they didn't know I had access to a Persona. Still, spying on me while I sleep is a bit much. I might as well have a little fun with it. I winked seductively at the camera and turned off the lights. I then stripped down to my boxers (Who expects me to sleep in that uniform?) and crawled into bed. I starred awkwardly at the camera for a very long time until I eventually drifted into sleep.

The next morning, I got up and went to school as per the normal routine. I stayed awake in class, but my mind was clearly elsewhere. Tonight is April 8th. There's going to be a full moon tomorrow. My friends are not yet aware of this, but things get… interesting whenever the full moon is out. By interesting, I of course mean shit hits the fan so hard it looks like the room was painted brown. That's _a lot _of poo. As the day went on, I noticed how Thanatos has become increasingly agitated inside my mind. I could occasionally hear him growl impatiently in my subconscious. He knows there will be blood spilt tomorrow.

"Oh, he's back," Yukari said to someone as I returned to the dorm later that night.

"So, this is our new guest…" another voice responded. Oh no, this guy's still here! Of course he is, why wouldn't he be? I closed the door behind me as both Yukari and my arch nemesis rose to greet me. "Good evening," the sophisticated looking man that had an appearance similar to Jesus gave me a smile I knew was fake. Thanatos's murderous rage had been revitalized, and was expressing himself by repeatedly ramming into the walls of my skull. It took all of my strength to hold him back.

"My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for your school," he introduced himself, adjusting his glasses. He forgot to mention that he was also an occultist psychopath that played us all for suckers, killed Mitsuru's father, and tried to sacrifice us to the Goddess of Death to bring about the end of the world. That's important information.

"_**Fight…! Kill…! DESTROY!" **_ Thanatos bellowed in outrage from within my soul. Neither Yukari nor Ikutsuki heard his attempts at escape, but it was giving me a headache. He wanted nothing more than to leap out of my brain and _eviscerate _the son of a bitch standing in front of me. Unfortunately, that would be… unwise for now. Once I have something to incriminate Ikutsuki with, Thanatos will have his moment.

"'Ikutsuki'… Hard to say, isn't it? That's why I don't like introducing myself; even I get tongue-tied sometimes!" he chuckled a little bit, and I feel like I'm going to be sick…

"Hey, are you alright?" Yukari seems to have caught on. At this point I'm breaking into a cold sweat and on the verge of a hemorrhage trying to restrain my inner demons. I won't be able to hold Thanatos back much longer if he keeps this up. I need to get away…

"I'm sorry…" I stammered, "I'll have to talk to you tomorrow. I'm not feeling very well all of a sudden." With no further explanation, I turned around and bolted up the stairs.

I wasn't actually sick, thank goodness, but my head felt like it was about to split open from my Persona's rampage. Thanatos has settled down for now, but it made me think why he acted the way he did. He hasn't been rebellious in the past, so why now? Plus, I have tomorrow to prepare for. Fun times indeed. Without even bothering to change, I crashed face-first into the pillow and fell asleep.

I got up the next morning with no problems. Wait… no Velvet Room dream? Didn't that happen the first time? That's… ominous. Anyway, school; another day another dollar, right? Today, I had another mini-conversation with Junpei and got to hear Mr. Ekoda talk his head off about Classic Literature. Mr. Ekoda rises in importance later, and in a bad way, so I don't like him very much. I slept through his class to spite him, and then went home with Junpei again.

Tonight's the night, ladies and gents. I didn't run into anyone else, so I simply went up to my dorm to prepare for tonight.

Wait for it…

_Bang! Bang! _"WAKE UP!"

Ah, there she is. I was wondering when Yukari would show up. "Sorry! I'm coming in!" She unlocked my door and ran into my room. Desperate times call for desperate measures I suppose. In hindsight, how did she unlock my door? I'll have to ask her that later. "I don't have time to explain," Yukari panted, "but we have to get out of here now!"

"Fair enough," I didn't sound as surprised as I should have, since I already knew this was going to happen down to the words Yukari would say. The dorm shook violently again, and I could feel Thanatos tense up inside me. "Hurry! Downstairs! We'll leave through the back door!"

"'Kay," I think I actually sounded bored on that one.

"Wait!" Yukari tossed me something, "take this, just in case." It was a simple sword; there are weapons leagues beyond this in Tartarus, but a sword is a sword, and I'm happy if it cuts things. "Okay, let's go!" We sprinted our way down the stairs and through the kitchen. We stopped to catch our breath at the exit. "Okay, we should be safe now…" Yukari panted, only to pick something up on her communications device. It was probably Mitsuru giving her some bad news judging the tone of her "What?!" Then, something charged into the exit door, trying to bring it down. It's a shadow, but I won't have room to fight it down here. "Upstairs!" I took charge, waving over at Yukari, "We'll go through the roof and down the fire escape!"

Yukari had no objections. We turned around and made a mad dash back up the stairs. The shadow continued to throw a tantrum behind us, instilling more panic in Yukari. Panic is the last thing you want in a situation like this; it keeps you from summoning your Persona.

We eventually made it to the roof. Yukari slammed and locked the door behind us. You do realize that a tiny little door like that won't hold it forever, right? Yukari sighed in relief, "I think we're okay for now."

"For now," I echoed. I knew the shadow would be crawling up the side of the building any second now.

Speak of the devil, there it is. Reaching over the edge of the building was a mass of black hands, one holding a blue mask and all the others holding swords of some kind. This isn't just any run-of-the-mill shadow, this was the Magician. It pointed its blades our way and charged.

"Those monsters…" Yukari was spouting exposition I didn't need. "We call them Shadows!" She pulled her pistol out and pointed it at her forehead. It's not a suicide attempt; it's how we summon our Personas. Yukari pulled the trigger, but she merely flinched and yelped. Pull yourself together! Your Persona won't heed your call if you're pissing your pants in fear. Thanatos was coiled up like a spring, ready to pounce at my command. He didn't waste his energy trying to force his release; he knew I would unleash his wrath soon. The Magician Shadow swatted Yukari aside like a helpless puppy. It had no interest in killing her, only me. Yukari's evoker was knocked out of her hand, and it landed in a puddle of blood at my feet.

I scooped the handgun off the ground, cradling it in my hands then gripping it properly. I looked over to the Magician. He's done for now, and we both knew it. I gave the monster a rather sadistic smile and pressed the gun into my temple.

Let me show you how it's done, Yukari. It's go time. "PERSONA!"

I pulled the trigger on the evoker as power enveloped me. In a torrent of bloodlust and hatred, Thanatos surged forth from my consciousness and took a physical appearance above me. He inhaled sharply and let out a mighty roar that shook the building more than the Shadow ever did. Yukari even had to cover her ears, poor thing.

Thanatos crashed down between the Magician and me. He took another breath and boasted:

"_**I AM THOU… THOU ART I…**_

_**FROM THE SHADOW OF THY SOUL, I STRIKE!**_

_**I AM THANATOS! DEATH TO ALL WHO OPPOSE ME!"**_

I couldn't help but smile arrogantly. The Magician Shadow was the strongest thing SEES had seen at this point, and Thanatos makes it look like a termite in comparison. Life is good, at least for me. I pointed at my adversary and gave my demon one simple command: _"Obliterate."_

Thanatos was more than happy to oblige as he drew his sword and charged the Shadow head on. He grabbed the Magician's blue mask and slammed the whole being into the ground, slicing off any hands that dared to try to attack him. Within seconds, the Magician could offer no more resistance. Thanatos raised his sword and cut the Shadow's mask in half, effectively killing it.

I turned to Yukari. She was staring at me with a mixture of fear and bewilderment. I couldn't blame her; she witnessed the most powerful enemy of SEES at the time get brutally slaughtered by an even more terrifying demon. Thanatos seems to be enjoying himself; he looked quite amused with one of the Magician's squirming limbs in his clutches. Then it stopped squirming, so Thanatos crushed it and turned his attention to the late Shadow's backup. "Oh look, there's more of them," I snarked nonchalantly, pointing my thumb in their direction so Thanatos knew what to murder. It didn't take him long to liquefy the three puny Shadows that stood before him. We even threw in a Maragidyne for good measure. There ain't no kill like overkill. Once his killing-spree was complete, Thanatos let loose another roar of triumph and disappeared.

"Well," I turned to Yukari to make sure she was alright, "that was a thing. Are you alright?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: **Hello again. It's good to be back. First of all, I would like to thank everyone for the wondrous support you've given me. It's quite motivating. Also, on a slightly different note: I need to hunt me down a beta reader. It would be pretty swell to have someone point out my occasional moments of ineptitude so the collective wrath of the Internet doesn't come banging down my door. Without further ado, here's the next chapter. It's a bit of a cooldown compared to the last one; I spend a lot of time laying down infrastructure and explaining just what the hell is going on. Hopefully it makes sense, which is why I need a beta. Enough of my rambling; story time!

* * *

"Are _you _alright?" Yukari asked me, not believing what she had just seen.

"…I don't have any reason not to be," I answered, not sure how to phrase my response. The Shadows couldn't lay a finger on me, and it was clear that Thanatos had no trouble ravaging anything that dared to stand in his way. I was totally fine. In fact, I feel better than fine; Thanatos's gleeful screech of conquest had rejuvenated my health and sparked my spirit into a blood-lusting frenzy. Since when did Thanatos learn Victory Cry? That's a mystery I'll have to solve later.

Mitsuru and a white-haired senpai wearing a red waistcoat came crashing through the door behind me, looking about as shocked as Yukari was.

"What on earth was _that?!_" Akihiko less like asking a question and more like demanding an explanation. I switched to Orpheus Telos, a Persona of the Fool Arcana, to get in better sync with the group as a whole; SEES, collectively, is under both the Fool Arcana and later the Judgement Arcana.

"That was Thanatos," I answered honestly, "my Persona."

"That thing is insane!"

"Indeed," Mitsuru interjected. She surveyed the area for a moment, and seemed to make some sort of mental calculation. She turned to me, "Do you have any idea what you've just done?"

"Nope," I said instantly. You liar! "I was just acting on instinct. I couldn't explain how I… Oh wow." The roof we were standing on is more beat up than I first observed. There is a sizable crater where Thanatos tackled and slammed the Magician into it, as well as several slash marks where his blade must've nicked the concrete during his rampage. To top it all off, about two thirds of the roof was smoldering and charred black. Gratuitous use of Maragidyne was very gratuitous. Hell, I couldn't unleash magic of that caliber until I was several months into my first run of this year. And yet, here I am showboating it in April, when the best everyone else can manage was a measly Garu or Bufu. I might have to put my God-tier Personas on the backburner until I actually need them; it would be more stamina efficient to use weaker ones that still get the job done.

After surveying the chaos I've created, I turned back to Mitsuru guiltily, "I'll pay for the damages if that's what you're saying. Somehow…"

"Not at all," Mitsuru chuckled. I greatly appreciate your mercy, Mitsuru, because there's no way I'd be able to pay for this. "A Persona awakening with skills such as Maragidyne had previously been unheard of, until now."

"With that as your starting point…" Akihiko said, "you could easily become the most powerful Persona user in the world, if you're not already!"

"Pssh, no. I wouldn't say that." I had the privilege of meeting and having a duel with the strongest Persona user in the world. At the most, she was playing with me. That woman would've floored me if, God forbid, she actually _tried_. She's also an elevator bellhop. Imagine that.

Now with that fiasco over, SEES retired to their rooms for the night. When I went to sleep, I was feeling pretty good about myself; one Shadow down, after all. When I woke up, I realized that I _might _have screwed over the space-time continuum a good bit.

You see, the first time I awakened to the Wild Card, I was so exhausted I slipped into a coma for a week. When I woke up, Yukari was at my bedside, and we talked about things like Personas, Shadows, and our dead parents. It wasn't a long conversation, but I believe it was the start of our relationship as teammates and as friends.

And I missed it by not passing out. Crap, I might be too strong for my own good.

Note to self: Hang out with Yukari sometime this week. I might be able to sneak in a conversation sometime at school today.

Then school happened. I couldn't get ahold of Yukari today, but I did help Junpei when he got asked a question by a teacher. He owes me now, wonderful.

After school, I went out on my own for a bit to gather my thoughts. The events that have happened this time around don't line up perfectly with my first run. How much will that affect the things around me? I sure hope the Butterfly Effect is a bunch of malarkey, or we'll have dinosaurs with top-hats ruling the world by the end of the semester. On the brighter side of things, I still have a free week that I didn't have last time, essentially. That means I can do whatever I feel like needs to be done in any order I want. I already have a few things in mind…

I gathered my things and took the next train to Paulownia Mall. I need to have a chat with the omnipotent.

Whenever things got screwy in the past, the Velvet Room and its residence always had a cryptic hint to help me at least get an idea about what's coming. I'm hoping that a mysterious case of time-travel is no different. I went to the usual spot: the small alleyway underneath the karaoke bar.

I had to do a double take to absorb all the shock. The glowing blue entrance of the Velvet Room was nowhere to be seen.

"Crap." I cursed out loud. I'm usually pretty responsible with my language, but it is the most affective when it comes to expressing my sense of dread. I continued to mutter a large stream of "Crap crap crap crap crap…" as I walked back out of the alleyway. I'm in a lot of trouble if I'm cut off from the Velvet Room. I parked myself on a bench near the central fountain in the mall. It's time for more thinking.

Why do I no longer have access to the Velvet Room? I signed Pharos's contract like I did last time. Did I render it void somehow? How did my time jump affect the Velvet Room? I have so many questions and no answers. I'm getting incredibly frustrated at this point. There's got to be some way to work around this, or I'm boned.

I had forgotten that I had it after all that's been happening lately, but I recently remembered. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a small, crumpled bookmark. It was meek looking, and was pretty much useless, but I had to go through hell to get a hold of it. This is the bookmark Elizabeth (that terrifying beast of an elevator attendant I mentioned earlier) rewarded me with after our duel. I held onto it for bragging rights should I ever want them. I dunno. I sorta thought it would throw me a bone if I clutched it affectionately.

"You're still holding onto that? I'm flattered."

Wow, didn't see that coming. This is rather uplifting, actually. I looked up at the silver-haired woman clad in a blue dress. She had blue boots, gloves, and a tiny hat thing to match. Her most defining feature was easily her eyes; they were unnaturally golden and betrayed her supernatural nature. That's anime cliché number 700 or so, but I wouldn't dare say that to her face.

"Elizabeth!" I greeted her warmly, "take a seat. You got some explaining to do." I slapped the bench for emphasis. She snickered at that and sat down.

"Where would you like me to begin?" she asked me.

"First off," I began, using my inside voice so no one will overhear me unless they're close, "are you responsible for this whole time-travel fiasco?"

"I am not," she replied in that eccentrically polite tone of hers. "In fact, I do not know who instigated this chain of events."

I thought for a minute, and then had a logical guess: "20,000 Yen says it's Ikutsuki." The Kirijo Group's original goal was a time manipulation device, after all. It would only make sense if Ikutsuki was behind this.

"Who?" Elizabeth only raised an eyebrow at me.

"I must've never mentioned him. Nevermind."

It's totally Ikutsuki though. Calling it now.

"Second," I raised another point, "what's up with the Velvet Room? Why don't I have access to it?"

"To answer that question," Elizabeth replied, taking a moment to think, "I have to explain how time-travel works."

"I'm all ears."

She chuckled, and took a deep breath. "To be completely honest, it will prove difficult to explain time-travel in such a way that you will understand, but I will attempt to do so anyway." She pulled out a massive tome out of seemingly nowhere and let it rest in her lap. "Would you believe me if I told you there was more than one universe?"

"There have been theories about such a thing, so sure."

"Excellent." Elizabeth opened her book and showed it to me. "Let's say this book is the Multiverse. Inside it is the myriad of pages; these pages represent the Planes of Existence. Each plane is completely independent of the other, and yet they can still be similar. Similar enough to achieve an effect akin to time-travel if one shifts to the correct Plane."

It was a lot to take in. I'm not sure if anyone could absorb that after hearing it only once. "I guess that makes sense," I said with confusion. "That just raises more questions though, and still didn't answer my first one."

"In Layman's Terms, your spot in the Velvet Room is already occupied."

"What?!"

"Allow me to continue, if you will," Elizabeth discarded her tome. "I'm sure you're aware of what a paradox is." I nodded. "You see, the Planes of Existence simply _loath _paradoxes, and will do everything in their power to eliminate them." I have an idea where this is going. "Before you arrived on this Plane of Existence, there was another Minato Arisato living here." I remained silent. "Since two Minato Arisatos existing at the same time created a paradox, this Plane had to alter its version of you enough to make him a different person. However, that individual still has the Wild Card, and will have the services of the Velvet Room because of it. The reason you're cut off is because the Velvet Room can only withstand so much potential energy; having contracts with both of you would cause it to overload and collapse."

"Oh well," I figured, "he probably needs it more than I do anyway."

"Given this Wild Card does not have the combat experience you do, or the repertoire of Personas, I have to agree with you."

"Good to know." Looking back, I distinctly remember a point where I could not produce any more Personas from the Velvet Room. It was right before I went to fight Nyx, where I was at my strongest. This worries me slightly; have I hit my limit?

"Moving on," Elizabeth told me, scooting at little closer. "Even if you are no longer a guest of the Velvet Room, I will still be more than willing to lend assistance where I can."

"Excellent," I reacted. Having Elizabeth on your side is kind of a big deal; she can do a lot more than simply attend an elevator. She could probably sink every island of Japan if she was properly motivated. "I'll take you up on your offer. How do we go about dealing with The Fall?"

"Humanity still wishes for death," Elizabeth reminded me, "so preventing The Fall entirely is impossible. Even if you abstain from slaying the fragments of Death, the Lost will only accumulate until the world itself ends."

"So I'm fighting Nyx again no matter what I do…" I have no qualms with sacrificing my life in order to preserve humanity, and I won't hesitate for a second to do it again, but knowing that I will not live to see next spring is still depressing.

"I'm afraid that is the truth," Elizabeth looked doleful, yet still had a spark of hope in the back of her eyeballs. "Despite that, you have one new advantage."

"And what would that be?" I was legitimately curious as to what this eccentric woman was leading to.

"You now have access to the Universe Arcana."

Oh yeah, that thing. I awakened to that Arcana while fighting Nyx. I lost my soul literally fifteen minutes later, so I never really figured out what it does. "To tell you the truth," I admitted to Elizabeth, "I have no idea how that thing works."

She giggled, "I don't either. That's why we're experimenting!" For some reason, I don't share Elizabeth's excitement with "experimenting." "Give me your hand, if you will," she instructed, cupping her own gloved hands to hold mine. I did what I was told, because why not? "Try to concentrate," she ordered, looking more focused herself. We haven't been sitting here for more than ten seconds, but I already felt a change. My hand is getting hotter, and I can see something forming in it now… Eventually, I had a small pearl-like object in my hand.

"So…" I began to ask, piddling with the orb I just created. "What is this thing, exactly?"

"I'm as clueless as you are," Elizabeth replied. Bummer. "Our combined power seemed to have resulted in that… whatever it is." We both stared at it blankly. It's something, I guess… The Universe Arcana; behold its majesty!

This thing is bound to be useful somehow. I clenched it in my fist and focused as hard as I could manage. Then, it became useful. I suddenly became incredibly nearsighted, but it feels like my senses have been opened to a new level. From inside my narrow field of vision, I could see complete strangers' Arcana just by looking at them. I can visualize things that were previously invisible, such as sound waves and heat signatures. I even have x-ray vision! Awesome! …And now I feel totally drained. My state of enlightenment shattered as quickly as it formed, returning my senses to normal and leaving me quite tired. Despite its pathetic time limit, this little pearl thingy looks like a godsend. "Your eyes turned yellow for a second," Elizabeth observed.

"So it's not secretive at all?"

"It doesn't appear that way."

"Duly noted."

Elizabeth suddenly stood up. "That's about all I'm able to offer at the moment," she apologized. "I hope you find that object useful."

"Oh, believe me," I snickered, "I will." With great power, comes great responsibility. Pssh, yeah, right. Everyone knows I'm going to abuse this thing's power _maliciously _before I actually do good deeds with it.

"I'll contact you again when I discover more," Elizabeth promised me.

"Likewise," I returned. We have each other's phone numbers, but I never actually thought about calling Elizabeth before. Something tells me I'm going to be doing that a lot more often; she's the only one who knows I'm a time-traveler.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note:** Goddammit, betas are hard to come by. I've sent some requests out, but I've yet to get a reply... I'll take volunteers~

Also, 38 followers at only four chapters?! What sorcery is this?! I dunno, but I like it, so bravo!

Anywho, stuff happens in this chapter, and I've already forgotten what I wanted to say in this Author's Note. Story time!

* * *

I feel like I'm going to enjoy the Universe Arcana's abilities the more I use them. All the way back to the dormitory, I couldn't stop playing with the little pearl Elizabeth and I made. It's almost like getting a new pair of eyes, and it feels pretty awesome. However, my eyes happen to glow bright yellow whenever the Universe is active, like Elizabeth, so I need to be careful when it comes to using this magic subtly. That and the time limit is a bit annoying. It's like holding your breath, almost.

"Welcome back," Mitsuru greeted me from her spot on the couch as I returned home.

My Persona automatically switched to Aliat. It's become a bit of a habit. I responded to her politely, but didn't stay around to chat. I retreated to my room for the night; there's a lot of stuff I need to sort out.

First off, there's apparently a second Wild Card now. More specifically, a second _me._ You see, that's a problem in more ways than one might expect. Not only does this "me" have a second Wild Card, but a second _Death incarnate_ sealed up inside him. I still have my Death fragment: Thanatos. An extra Death cannot be good for a Plane of Existence to have; one is bad enough. Priority number one is to hunt this guy down. I should be able to talk him into joining SEES as well for bonus points, knowing me.

Okay! Priority number one: track down second Wild Card. Priority number two: have a heart-to-heart conversation with Yukari to avoid royally screwing the timeline worse than it already is. Priority number three: Ikutsuki. He's a problem. Priority number four: …still working on that one. Priority number five: _profit!_

But first… sleep! My **Procrastination **has increased.

The next morning, I awoke with a game plan set up in my head. I'll fill you in instead of narrating my day at school today. Spoiler alert: nothing happens at school today. What happens after, I hope, will be appealing to read. Tonight, we're going on a manhunt.

Going on a manhunt immediately after school is a bit pointless. Even with the orb helping me, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, the Dark Hour can be strangely convenient at times. It'll basically filter out anyone not awesome enough to be the Wild Card by turning them into coffins. In theory, my target should stick out like a sore thumb for one whole hour tonight. Sweet, this should be easy. Let's get crackin', shall we?

I returned to the dorm after school today and did my homework with alarming speed. I might as well get it out of the way now, am I right? I'll be too busy conducting mass-murdering Shadows to worry about schoolwork. My **Responsibility** has increased.

And now, I wait…

Midnight strikes and the Dark Hour is upon us. It's time to rock n' roll.

First off, I need stuff. More specifically, I need weapons. Unfortunately, I don't have access to weapons; I'm not an official member of SEES yet, so I'm cut off. This is… problematic. One does not simply _ask _for weapons. What would I say? "Yeah… uh… Listen: I'ma need some weapons to crack some Shadow skulls, find an alternate version of myself, and save the entire world as we know it. 'Kay? _Great._" Yeah, real smooth, Minato.

It looks like I'm doing this the hard way: stealing the weapons off my friends. Oh well, if the entire Multiverse is at stake, I'm pretty sure I can justify petty theft. Luckily for me, everyone else is asleep. Unluckily for me, we don't have an actual armory at SEES; we just stash our weapons in our rooms. I hope you see why this is a problem for me. Breaking and Entering? Sure! Why not? Another issue is that I have to accommodate for Minato #2 as well, so I have to sneak into _two_ rooms and steal _two _sets of weapons. That means I'll have to rob Akihiko and at least one of the girls. I'm not too worried about the repercussions of stealing Aki's stuff, but the girls… That's going to bite me in the ass later for sure. Even worse, my preference is one-handed swords. The only person to share this trait with me is Mitsuru. Read: If I screw this up, I'll be executed for sure. The very thought gives me horrible flashbacks to Kyoto.

Alright, enough screwing around! I'll just psyche myself out of it if I keep going with this monologue. Moonlight's burning; it's now or never.

I decided to break into Akihiko's room first; he'll be the easiest since he's the heaviest sleeper. First, I made a quick pit-stop at the girls' restroom in the lobby. Bobby-pins make excellent lock picks, so I snatched some. Next, I crept to his room at a quiet yet somewhat speedy crouch-walk. I clutched my special pearl in my hand and focused intensely into his room. I can see through his door. Good, he's asleep. I can see him sprawled haphazardly on top of his bed and I can hear him snoring softly. I can also see my objective: his Evoker, stashed into his drawer.

Using one of the pins I picked up, I picked the lock on my senpai's door and slowly swung it open. It creaked agonizingly loud, but he didn't seem disturbed by it; it must be my nerves playing tricks on me. Shooting a glance at the sleeping Akihiko every half second, I made my way into his room, opened up the second drawer, snatched his Evoker, and was out again in under a minute. Slowly and carefully, I closed the door behind me. Well, that was easy, but it was also Akihiko. Mitsuru, target number two, is probably going to crank it up to hard mode.

Trying to remain calm, I sneaked my way to the next floor up and scanned Mitsuru's room with the Universe orb. The swords I want are in a display case, which should be simple to steal. The Evoker… Well, she sleeps with it.

Classy, Mitsuru. You're making my life incredibly difficult right now.

I would certainly not have the guts to do this if I hadn't already been through one adventure, but now I'm enough of a Badass to eat Fuuka's disgusting food without hesitation; this should be easy.

I steeled myself, picked Mitsuru's door, and opened it. Again, it creaked, but Mitsuru is a lighter sleeper that Akihiko. She stirred, and my heart stopped for a moment. TRUE! -Nervous -very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad? …Except I'm not going to smother Mitsuru with a pillow and hide her body under the floorboards, just steal her stuff.

I remained locked in place until I was certain she was asleep. With the darkness as my ally, I made my way closer to the display case that rested in the corner of the room. I retrieved from it two rapiers. They aren't very sharp, but they are quite pointy and good for impaling things with _extreme _prejudice. I placed them on the floor next to the door for when I take my leave. Now, the fun part: prying an Evoker from Mitsuru's sleeping hands. _Thief _franchise, don't fail me now!

I spent a good five minutes just making my approach. See seemed to flinch with every footstep, and it was driving my paranoia through the roof. Execution is an unthinkable punishment, and I must avoid it at all costs. I'll admit, as I look at my senior's features, I'm getting a strong _Sleeping Beauty _vibe from her. She's quite pretty when she's asleep. Less fantasizing! More stealing!

Mitsuru lay curled up in the fetal position as I loomed over her. Her Evoker was in plain sight. All I have to do is pry open her hand like a clamshell and snatch it. That's easier said than done, of course. She's still oblivious to me. Perfect! Okay, how am I going to do this? She's holding the Evoker with both hands and quite close to her face as well. I need to be extremely careful. Slow and steady wins the race! With tensions high and fingers as steady as they'll ever be, I covered Mitsuru's hand with my own and began to open up her fingers. Every time I so much as twitched, she either made a face, sound, or moved in return. This is extremely nerve-racking, might I add. Like a claw machine at your local arcade, except it'll castrate you if you screw up. I'm also beginning to find it strangely arousing. Mitsuru's hands are _soft._ Okay, de-railing that train-of-thought there; it was beginning to get all creepy and stalker-y.

I got her top hand off the gun and moved it to the side about as gently as I'd handle a baby… made of shattered glass. Now, the Evoker. I set to work prying open Mitsuru's second hand. Getting the index finger was probably the trickiest, since it was resting dangerously on the trigger. Aannd… Yoink! Got it! I turned, grabbed the swords, and closed the door silently on the way out. Nobody suspected anything, and I was out of the dorm fully armed it no time at all.

**Like. A. **_**Ninja.**_

Now, I'm going to be completely honest when I say this: I have no idea how that went as perfectly as it did. I guess sneaking past hundreds of Shadows in Tartarus for a year straight has given me some experience in ninja stealth. And now, the manhunt can commence…

Time to open up the senses. Universe time.

I reached for the pearl in my pocket and gave it a good squeeze. As I expected, the Wild Card lit up like a Christmas tree in the Dark Hour. Even though the source was way out of my range of detection, I could pick up on the traces this Wild Card left behind. I can tell where he's been, and where he's going. I should be able to catch up like this. I set off at a steady jog down the deserted streets. Eventually, I found what I was looking for.

Before me was a mass of Shadows closing in on my Wild Card. Now, the fate of the world rests on both of us surviving, so I can't let that happen. Holding a rapier in one hand and an Evoker in the other, I rushed to my other self's rescue.

Before the nearest Shadow could close in for the kill, I demonstrated a move I like to call the Nope Kick™ to its face. The monster reeled backwards and disintegrated. This pleases me. "Hey, are you alright back there?" I ask my alternate self, turning to see the person I just saved.

"Y-yeah, I think so…" she answered, nodding at me and hiding her fear quite well.

Wait…

_**Emergency Brakes Engage!**_

This is a girl. I'm talking to a girl. The trail I've been following belongs to this girl. My alternate-dimension self is a _girl_.

* * *

**Author's Note: **And cliffhanger. Bum bum BUUUMMM. Nah, that was totally predictable in my opinion, but I enjoyed writing it. Ninja stealth was fun to write, too. Next chapter has action in it, promise~


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note:** Well, that was more difficult than I first imagined. The majority of that writing time was me staring at a blank document going, "Uhh..." for hours. Lesson learned: Writer's Block is a bitch, and it probably shows. Despite that, the story must go on! So here's chapter six, a shorter, but still action-y chapter with a few moments from my comedy reserves. Enjoy!

* * *

Well, alternate-universe me is a girl. Oh well; logic and reason never had any part in my adventures before. This should prove… interesting. This also worries me quite significantly, since I have no idea how this female me will behave. A swap of genitals means a swap of chemicals in the brain, after all.

On the bright side, she's still alive. I intend to keep it that way. I readied my blade and put my Evoker to my skull. "Do as I do if you want to live!" I said to myself, tossing her my extra weapons. Let's get to awakening some Personas. "Valkyrie!" let's start a little smaller this time; there's no need to go nuts with Thanatos against small fries like this. Even still, the mounted maiden had no trouble freezing several Shadows to their death with Bufu. Lady-me was giving me the deer-in-the-headlights look, which I seem to be getting a lot recently…

Well, I _did _just put a bullet through my brain, summoned a creature from Norse mythology, and then commanded it to freeze blobs of pure evil to death. Of course, this has become normal for me, but I tend to forget that I'm not the average teenager anymore. Lady-me has never seen any of this before, and it was blowing her mind quite vigorously. I don't need revelations of the truth to be blowing her mind right now. I need her Evoker to be blowing her mind!

"Are you insane?!" She asked me, looking at the Evoker I gave her like it was possessed by Satan.

"Yes," I told her with a totally straight face, "yes I am. I am also alive; just do it!"

Lady-me looked around her and saw the mob of Shadows still closing in. Cautiously, she pressed the barrel of the Evoker against her temple. Closing her eyes, I barely caught a "Persona…!" before she pulled the trigger.

_BANG!_

Whoop, there it is.

Behind her materialized a Persona that looked almost exactly like my own original, Orpheus, except it was obviously more feminine in appearance. It had a golden torso, a white face, and a flowing mane of auburn hair to match its owner's. It was basically the inverse color-palette of my Orpheus. Eventually, it began to speak:

"_**I AM THOU…**_

_**THOU ART I**_

_**FROM THE SEA OF THY SOUL, I COMETH**_

_**I AM ORPHEUS: MASTER OF STRINGS!"**_

Hey, buddy, Orpheus is already taken! Where's your origina- oh wait. At least she has a Persona now.

"Hey, not bad!" I offered her a complement. Always start with complements. "By the way, do you have a name?" I forgot to ask that amidst the murdering of Shadows I had been partaking in.

"Yuki… Makoto Yuki!" She responded. At least she has an original name; if she was called Minako Arisato or something, it would be _way _too obvious that we were maybe the same person from alternate timelines.

Back into the fray, Minako looked like she was about to start enjoying herself; she was smiling fiercely and She-Orpheus let loose a mighty battle-screech. …And then the former proceeded to clutch her head and double over in pain. She-Orpheus responded in turn, and then a pair gloved hands started working their way out of her mouth.

Oh yeah, this happens. I almost forgot about the whole Death incarnate thing. A second Thanatos sprung out of She-Orpheus's head like a Lovecraftian Jack-in-the-Box. The demon brandished its sword menacingly and charged for the nearest Shadow. I need only stand back and watch the spectacle. I think Makoto has this covered. I say that, and then my own head feels like it's about to split open.

"_**I WILL RIP THE FLESH FROM HIS BLASPHEMOUS CARCASS!" **_my own Thanatos bellowed in arrogance and outrage, throwing himself into the walls of my mind in an attempt to escape. Oh, come on, man! Is another Thanatos really that blasphemous? To you, maybe, but you're giving me a headache, so behave! Gee, you've become so irritable lately; that can't be good.

As soon as Makoto's Thanatos was finished with his murder spree, he turned his gaze to me and growled. Oh… he wants to murder me, too. Marvelous. I guess that makes sense, because my Thanatos originally emerged when the Magician Shadow (a fragment of Death) attacked me. I have a fragment of Death in me as well, so I must be on his hit list. That will prove… problematic. The demon roared threateningly, and with Makoto unable to control him, he charged. I'd say it's time to bring out the big guns.

Thanatos, although quite the badass, just can't handle one thing I have in spades: light magic. I switched to Daisoujou, a light-based Hierophant Persona and dodged Thanatos's initial swipe. Stepping back, I pulled out my Evoker and popped one into my brain. A surge of energy later, and the undead monk Daisoujou appeared in front of me. Ringing his golden bell, he trapped Thanatos inside a ring of solid light. The spell was called Samsara, the highest tier of the Hama family of spells, and it kicks ass. Thanatos struggled against his restraints, but to no avail. I think this calls for a cheesy one-liner.

"And stop…" I turn my back to the magic. "Hama Time!"

_BOOM!_

If you caught that reference, you're particularly awesome.

Thanatos's charred remains stood for a moment, and then reverted back into Orpheus and disappeared. I looked back over to Makoto. "Hey!" I called out to her, making my way back. "You alright?" I asked. She didn't answer, and she looks queasy…

Aand… down she goes. Makoto's eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed. I caught her before she hit the ground, of course, but she still just passed out. You see, this was me the first time around, so I guess it's her turn now. Going by that logic, she's going to be out cold for around a week. Wonderful. With nothing better to do, I reclaimed her weapons and then carried her to the nearest hospital. I got there relatively quick, since there's no traffic in the Dark Hour. I left Minako laying rather ungracefully on a row of seats in the lobby, and then proceeded to haul it back home. It is a hospital, after all. There's no safer place for her at the moment; she should be alright. Note to self: come back here in a week and see what's up.

The morals of this story?

Cool guys don't look at explosions

Rule #63: _NO EXCEPTIONS_

Reference to Internet memes might lead to mixed results

Once I returned to the dormitory, another problem struck me as the Dark Hour ended. What the hell am I going to do with these weapons? They just don't grow legs and walk away, after all. If Mitsuru catches wind of this, I am _boned_. The only real option I have is to rely on my ninja-stealth again. Here we go…

In truth, Akihiko was an absolute cakewalk, and Mitsuru seems to have relaxed a bit as well. It must be a Dark Hour thing. Despite that, I still almost wet myself with fear. Mitsuru is even terrifying when she sleeps! Speaking of sleep, I should probably do that now…

With my mission accomplished, I retreated back into my room and decided to call it a night. And what a night it was! I nearly died. _Twice. _Also, I meet my female counterpart for this universe, which not a lot of people get to do. I could thing more, but then my alarm clock started going off.

I was out all night, it seems. I didn't get to sleep at all. Bollocks, it's probably worth it.


End file.
